The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-03-04

inc timpcfs 81 SHIPS pierced with sworsi-
fishes are by no means uncommon
Ordinarily speaking. and as fnr ~
naturalist opinions 60. tho sword0sh
appears 10 BE- pcaccable eno:yh
When. however. the fish Il irritated Or
enragcd IL disposition because our.
ragcously fierce. Presumably Il Il then
that Il vents its temper on The nm
offending timbcrs Of ships. A certain
schooner named the volunfcer. hniling
from the port 81 Gloucester. Mass.
found itself In the the n~eighborhood ~
Book Island. About four o'clock on
that day, the vessel reeled from a sud-
den shock. which at frs { suggested IN
possibility Of having struck some
hidden reef. The weather was SO
fine that the Volunteer was well
nigh becalmed. and fortunately
captain and crew had plenty
OF leisure and opportunity I o TAX.
things calmly In face Of the mysterious
danger which threatened them. A
glance over the side Of the vessel
suniced To reveal the cause Of the
shock. A swordfish Of large size was
seen In the act Of charging the ship
once again. II retrcated. and then
rushing through the water renewed its
assault with great vigor. A boat was
quickly manned, and a harpooncr duly
dispatched the assailant. which was
found 10 weigh three hundred pounds.
In due time the Volunteer was docked
at Gloucester, when an inspection was
made Of the vessels keel. II was then
found that about six feet from
the vessels stem. near the top
Of the keel, the sword had
entered the wood. and had actually
broken four times as the assault Of the
fish was renewed. Four pieces Of tbs
weapon were found embedded in the
keel. The fish had thus used its dam
aged sword again and again in the
course Of its attack. and. oblivious II
hurt and pain. had sacrificed itself in
the pursuit Of an utterly unjustiiablc
rage.
Tales Of its combats with whales and
porpoises figure in natural his cory.
The swordfish charges the great sea
mammals and spears them with as
deadly a thrust as ever harpooner gave.
The fish has the advantage in every
sense Of the term. II Is a 1.-THE. active
creature, and can attack the whale with
the same ease that a light horseman
can poster and annoy a dragon in
heavy marching order.
The great narwhal enjoys the .pu-
tation o~fpossessing the longest tooth in
the world. since this organ grows to
form a twisted ivory pole. which may
occasionally attain q length Of nine o.
ten feet. Thus armed the animal
would seem to present a much more
front than the sword-fisb
itself. But by all accounts. the sea-
unicorn Is a relatively quiet and peacea-
creature. by no means given
attacking any thing or any
save pcrchance. as BAR
win tells US, to engage in occasional
combats with its owl rivals and wish
IT, kith and kin. As far rs our in
extends. we fail to discover
any instance Of a narwhal using his
long tooth to probe the timbcrs Of q
In olden times, the tooth was
valued as a remedy against pois.
On; a virtue. by the way. which tn.
norm Of the mythical land-unicorn was
LIKEWISE believed to possess.
Bafin. Of Bafin's Bay fame. wrote 81
his animal. that lit being a great fish.
a long horn or bone growing
of It's forehead or nostril. such as
Sir Martin Frobishcr in his second vow
sge found one, indiverse places we saw
which II the horne be Of any good
'alue. no doubt that many Of them may
,e killed" In Hakluyt's' Travels
himself describing the mar
speaks Of It rs having Tin his
lose a horne streight and torquct.
4 length two yards lacking
ynches." He then proceeds to
his presumably medicinal powers.
Being broken in the top. here we
night perceive It hollow. into which
ONE Of our sailors putting spiders.
hey presently died" Wisely. per-
Iaps, for the credit Of his own narra-
i've, Sir Martin adds that he ''saw not
he tarill hereof. but 1t was reported
INTO me Of a truth; by the virtue
thereof w supposed X 10 be the sen
nicorna."
This was rather . curious fashion II
the character Of an animal BY
he effects Of his horns upon innocent
and the tale smacks somewhat
{ the CLANS Magnns type after all.
he sworl-fish and tho narwhal. how
yer. are well known to modern
biologists, and the former must be
ddcd 70 the list Of occasional pcrils
Thich threaten the welfare Of those
travel by sca.-London Daily